UN
GATE, August 30 -- After
its
reporting on
the United
Nations as a
resident
correspondent
for a decade,
exposing war
crimes and UN
scandals from
Sri Lanka to
Yemen to
Cameroon, UN
Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres had
Inner City
Press roughly
ousted and
banned from
the UN since 3
July 2018.

On 24 August
2019 Inner
City Press
applied
to
Guterres and
his new
Communications
and media
accreditation
chief Melissa
Fleming to be
admitted like
hundreds of
others to
cover the
upcoming UN
General
Assembly.
After
receiving from
Guterres'
Security chief
Gilles Michaud
an
ill-informed
response
passing the
buck to the
Department now
run by
Fleming, past
4 pm on
Friday, August
30 the UN
issued a
denial of
accreditation
with no
reasoning
other than
that
accreditation
had previously
been revoked:

Greetings
Matthew Lee
from Inner
City
Press,
Your media
accreditation
request, with
reference no:
M5413398, has
been declined
for the
following
reason: Media
accreditation
was withdrawn
on 17 August
2018."

This is
Kafka-esque,
and corrupt.
We will have
more, much
more, on this.
For now, here
was from the
August 24,
2019
application:

"I
am writing to
you a month
before the UN
General
Assembly high
level week as
a journalist
who after
covering the
United Nations
for Inner City
Press for ten
years was
roughed up and
thrown out of
the UN as I
covered its
Fifth (Budget)
Committee on 3
July 2018 and
have been
denied all
access since.
There was no
due process,
no right to
appeal,
nothing. The
Department's
and MALU's
lack of any
content
neutral
accreditation
rules, rule
process
including
appeal rights
for
jouranlists,
must also be
addressed.
I should now
be granted
accreditation
like hundreds
of
correspondents
who publish
far fewer
stories about
the UN and
international
affairs than I
do. I ask for
your immediate
response.
I have a right
to cover the
UN, the
Security
Council,
ECOSOC and
General
Assembly
including next
month's High
Level week.
For your
information
despite now
ending USG
Smale having
assured the UN
Special
Rapporteur on
Freedom of
Expression
that during my
exclusion my
written
questions
would be
answered, the
questions have
not been."

Receipt
was confirmed
from many,
including
"From: malu
Date: Sat, Aug
24, 2019 at
7:28 PM
Subject: Your
U.N.
eAccreditation
Request has
been RECEIVED
To: Inner City
Press
Greetings
Matthew
Lee,
This is to
confirm the
United Nations
Media
Accreditation
and Liaison
Unit
(M.A.L.U.) at
New York
Headquarters
has received
your request
for
accreditation.
Please be
assured every
effort will be
made to review
the request as
soon as
possible. Upon
processing, a
notification
email (to the
email address
registered
with the
request) will
provide the
status update,
to confirm an
approval or
rejection, and
any additional
information
which may be
required."
Watch this
site - we will
report in
detail going
forward.

UN Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres says
he has a "zero
tolerance"
policy for
sexual abuse,
exploitation
and harassment,
and for
retaliation. But it
has become
clear what
Guterres has a
zero tolerance
for is
criticism, or
even
questions. Guterres
had Inner
City Press
roughed up twice a
year ago and
banned since;
now he
and his
spokespeople
refuse to
answer written
questions
about UN
peacekeepers'
child rapes,
see below.

A senior UN
official who,
like many
lower down in the UN
appreciates
Inner City
Press'
accountability
reporting
about an
Organization
killing itself
with corruption
and arrogance,
tried
to raise the issue
but wrote
back: " I am
sorry to hear
that you are
still banned
from the UN. I
was with the
SG for a short
meeting , we
barely managed
to cover some
of the most
important
topics and he
rushed to
another
meeting. But I
enquired
around and I
was told that
even my
continuous
efforts would
not help.
There are
apparently
also some
others that
are unhappy
with your
reporting."

Who might
those "some
others" be? Watch
this site.

***

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